Competing Smartly

Also in Zhejiang, at the Xiejiang’an · Transfar Agri-Innovation Village (谢径安 · 传化农创村), robots are sowing seeds 80 times faster than humans, drones that monitor crops in real-time, and farmers who manage irrigation and fertilization with a single tap on their phones. At the center of this transformation is Transfar’s Digital Seedling Factory (谢径安传化植物科学中心), led by long-time agronomist Gao Suqin. Her 15,000-square-meter “plant technology ark” produces over 50 million seedlings per year, with a 98% survival rate and 30% cost reduction. Inside, robotic arms plant each seed with precision, smart sensors track growth, and automated germination chambers cut sprouting time from 20 days to just 3. The district alone in Zhejiang has now built eight smart agricultural factories and trained more than 1,500 digital agri-entrepreneurs.
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At Beijing’s second “Open Day of Agricultural Science”, the Smart Agriculture Innovation Team from the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences showcased a “Digital Container Mushroom House,” which became the event’s star attraction. The system integrates environmental monitoring, temperature-humidity control, and AI-based growth modeling to cultivate golden oyster mushrooms in a clean, pesticide-free environment, producing harvests year-round and adaptable for rooftops or village spaces. This innovation demonstrates how digital technology is transforming urban farming and modernizing the country’s edible mushroom industry. [1] [2]

The Department of Market and Informatization of China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) has issued a notice calling for the submission of key smart agriculture technologies for 2025. The campaign aims to implement the Guiding Opinions on Vigorously Developing Smart Agriculture and the National Smart Agriculture Action Plan (2024–2028), accelerating technology adoption across six areas: smart open-field cultivation, facility planting, livestock and poultry farming, aquaculture, seed industry, and cross-sector agricultural technologies. Selected technologies will be showcased at the 2025 National Smart Agriculture Promotion Conference and promoted nationwide as key models for China’s agricultural digitalization drive. [1]

麦麦科技 (Maimai Technology), a Beijing-based smart agriculture company founded in 2015, announced the completion of a Pre-A financing round exceeding RMB 100 million, valuing the firm at over RMB 1 billion. The round was led by Qihong Yuyuan, Xinglian Capital, Chunguangli, and Honglian Qiyuan, with participation from existing investors. CEO Li Nan stated that 70–80% of the funds will be invested in developing AI agricultural foundation models and intelligent sensing devices, marking one of the largest early-stage financings in China’s smart agriculture sector. Maimai has developed over 1,000 vertical AI models across 15 major and 200 minor crop types, achieving notable results such as reducing citrus peel defects in Hubei to under 5% and increasing blueberry yields in Yunnan by 30%. [1] [2]